


Five times the enterprise crew was reminded how young Chekov is and one time they realized he's more mature than they thought

by Xyriath



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 16:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2075052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Does what it says on the tin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five times the enterprise crew was reminded how young Chekov is and one time they realized he's more mature than they thought

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a [tumblr prompt](http://xyriath.co.vu/post/93731114952/this-would-be-a-longer-prompt-and-i-dont-really-know).

**1.**

“And _that’s_ how a real Scotsman handles things!” Scotty crowed, tipping back his head to cheers from the rest of the crew, finishing with a bout of laughter before downing more of the beer.  “Let’s hear you top _that_ one, McCoy!” he finished, with a smack on the bar for emphasis.

“You’re fulla horse shit!” Leonard shouted back, pitching his voice to be heard over the “oooooh”-ing from the small crowd.  “They ain’t even _got_ bears on that planet, and no one in their right mind’d ask you t’rescue a damned princess from one of ‘em, anyway!”

“Well it sure as bollocks looked like one!  And y’left out the part where I did it barehanded!”  There was more laughter and cheering, this time accompanied by clapping.  “And a kilt!  In nothin’ but!”  Scotty paused before turning to smirk at the closest person, who just so happened to be Nyota.  “If y’know what I mean!”

The cheering and laughter was punctuated by a chorus of groans and head shaking, none louder and more evident than Nyota’s, who was making a mock-horrified expression and leaning away.  She turned to face Spock in overdramatic terror before noticing that he was swaying to the point of nearly falling, forcing her to grab him under the arms and support him.

Leonard just rolled his eyes, grabbing another highball glass of expensive bourbon and turning to Jim to grumble while Scotty continued to bask in the attention of his equal parts adoring and chagrined company.

Jim, of course, was distracted, still trying to work his mouth around the tongue twisters Gaila had challenged him with.  She, of course, had gotten distracted supporting Carol, who was _insisting_ that she was fine and that she had a very high alcohol tolerance, but her intent expression was focused on a green pole that provided support for the building.

“Another round, on me!” Scotty shouted, lifting his arms into the air and not caring that his wallet might regret his decisions the next day.  The cheering took care of that.

Hikaru slung his arm around Pavel’s shoulder, dragging him forward to the bar, motions sweeping and dramatic, completely ignoring the alarm on his face.  “Hey, you haven’t had anything!  Scotty, Pavel first!”

“All right, what’ll it be, laddie?”

Pavel chuckled nervously, glancing around at the eager faces, Scotty’s especially.  “I, uh, kennot do zat, remember?”

“What’s he talkin’ about?”  Scotty swayed for just a moment, staring at Pavel uncomprehendingly.  “‘Course you can!  It’s free—”

“No, no, I mean…”  He laughed again, glancing over at Hikaru for assistance.  “Zhere is a drinking age here, yis?  Not until you are twenty-one?”

“Wh— _oh._ ”  Hikaru was the first of the crowd to process the words.  “Shit, right.  You’re like… seventeen.”

“Almost eighteen, but yis.”

There was a ripple of nervous laughter in the crowd from those close enough to hear.  “Man, can’t remember last time I was around someone who couldn’t drink.”

“You do realize you heff been around me for almost a year now.”  Pavel’s tone was dry.

“Well, yeah, but—you know what I mean!”  Hikaru shoved at his head playfully.

“Y’know,” Leonard broke in, reappearing by deciding to lean heavily on the bar.  “Back in _my_ day…”  He pointed knowingly at Pavel, Hikaru, and Scotty.  “We had fake IDs.”

“Back in your day?” Scotty scofffed.  “I’m older’n you are!”

“Yeah,” Leonard shot back, teeth showing as he enunciated, eyebrows raised and eyes wide in an almost crazed fashion.  “It shows.”

Pavel choked back laughter, and Scotty seemed to consider arguing with the apparently combative doctor for just a moment before shaking his head and turning back to him.

“While I get that we don’t wanna be givin’ the Enterprise a bad name, gotta say, I pity you.  I’m sure y’can’t wait to join us.”

“Yis, well.”  Pavel’s face was neutral.  “Geeven my options, sir…”   He glanced Scotty up and down, then away.  “I kent say I am too sorry myself.”

Hikaru was the only one who caught the twitch of Pavel’s lips, and for a while there, he was too busy busting up laughing to explained exactly what had caused him to double over.

Twenty minutes later, he was busting up, along with the rest of the bar, at Spock’s attempts to dramatically and singlehandedly reenact an obscure Swahili legend, Leonard urging him on with a giant sharklike smile and a recording datapad in both hands.

“Looks like Spock got his hands on some chocolate,” Nyota managed to get out between laughter.

“I wonder how zat could have happened.”

Hikaru was also the only person to catch the innocent expression on Pavel’s face as he said it.

—

**2.**

“Are you serious?”  Jim’s mouth was spread in a wide grin.  “Oh my god.  You have a _Distania?_  They haven’t made these in—”

“Fifteen years, probably.  Maybe more.”

Carol, Jim, and Pavel were all gathered around Leonard, who held a small, sleek box in his hand, with two classic controllers.

“It actually needs a screen,” Jim said, almost awed.  “Man.  When I went over to my friend Alex’s house—we were, what, five?  Six?  He had one.  Almost thought I’d imagined it.”

“It was the first video game system I had, actually,” Carol chimed in, lips curving up in a smile.  “I put in _so_ many hours on that thing.  It finally died some time in high school.”

Leonard scoffed.  “High school.  Lemme tell you, this baby went to _college_ with me.  Almost lost it my first year at a frat party, too,” he finished thoughtfully.

“Hey, let’s hook it up!”

Leonard grinned at the suggestion, unwrapping lengths of cords and stopping short when he caught Pavel’s stare of skeptical confusion.

“What’s the matter, kid?”

“I don’t… understand.”

“What’s not t’understand?”  Leonard finished straightening the cords and turned, one eyebrow raised.

“I’ve never heard of zhis… ‘Distanya,’ and besides, why would you use it when you heff perfectly fine modern ways of playing games?  Especially one zat requires a screen and zhese…”  He reached out at the bundle, but Leonard snatched it away with a glower.

“Excuse you!  This is the _last_ console that ever had controllers!  Have some respect!  It’s older’n you are!”

“Well, perhaps if it is zhe last, zhere is a reason none of zhem now haff them, correct?”  He shrugged.  “All of zhe decent game systems were inwented in Russia, anyway.”

Jim had to grab the back of Leonard’s shirt and keep him from going after Pavel’s retreating form.  The prospect of playing the beloved console eventually outweighed the prospect of giving a lecture.

—

**3.**

"So then—" Jim broke off, unable to keep himself from bursting out into laughter again.  "Oh man. The frogs were on his _chair._  I didn’t even put them there that time.  You should have heard him scream.”

"I am surprised I didn’t."  Pavel, the only other occupant of the observation room, was laughing too, though not to the point of not being able to breathe.  "He was… not a popular professor, I zhink."

Jim snorted.  ”Hell no.  He was a jackass.  I think everyone bonded over that.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved the material.  Stellar cartography.  I’d been looking forward to it for ages.  Just, you kinda had to separate the class from the teacher.”  Jim chuckled again.  “But you were top of your class, right?”  He smirked at Pavel’s look of surprised.  “Yeah, I know, I actually read paperwork for once.  C’mon, I want to hear.”

Pavel shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable.  “I… zhat was not… I mean, I did have some trouble.  But not with zhe professor.”

“Oh?”  Jim’s forehead creased as he frowned.  “Why?  What happened?”

“I…”  His laugh was nervous, self-conscious.  “It is silly.”  He glanced over.  “I am surprised zhat you want to hear it, given zhe attitude of some of my klessmates.”   

“No, really.”  Jim shifted on the couch, turning to face him.  “C’mon.  I haven’t heard a lot about your time at the Academy.  God knows I’ve told you enough crazy stories.”

Pavel’s smile was faint.  “Zhis is… not as humorous.”  He shrugged.  “It is just, zhe top of my class?  People did not take zhat well.”

Jim jerked his head back, looking positively offended on Pavel’s behalf.  “Why the hell not?”

“I… was not looked upon favorably.  Mostly I was ‘zhat kid’ and only if zhey needed me.”  He shrugged.  “When you were my age—fifteen—in a class with adults…”  He laughed nervously.  “I am sorry.  I did not mean to complain.”  His expression changed to one of anxiety.  “Or brag!  I am not trying to say—”

“Hey, hey.  Chekov.  Calm down.”  Jim was smiling, but sympathetically this time.  “Don’t worry about it.  Like I said.  They were jackasses.  I think you earned it and you should be proud.”

Pavel’s smile was slow, warming up the nervous look on his face.  “Truly?”

“Yeah.”  Jim reached out to clap him on the shoulder.  “Now, hey, I want to know how you handled that one project…”

—

**4.**

“She’s _engaged_.”

Pavel’s head jerked up, and his eyes, wide and startled, softened after they met Nyota’s.  He sagged slightly.

“I understand.  And she is… royalty, on zhis planet, anyway.  I… any of my intentions would not haff been… appreciated.”

“Hey.”  Nyota’s voice changed, from mild teasing to gentleness.  “It’ll be all right.  I know you liked her…”

Pavel laughed, though there was a sad edge to it.  “I realize I am probably being ridiculous.  I understand zhat I will… ‘get over it,’ so to speak, but zhat… it is difficult to realize, right now.”

“I know.”  She reached out to briefly squeeze his arm.  “If it helps, it’s… it would be very difficult, to see someone on another planet.”

“Yeah.”  He turned away, eyes tracing up the alien designs decorating the wall of the private room.  “I just… it would be nice.  To heff someone.  Like you do Spock, or…”

“Spock and I are both in Starfleet.”  She smiled sympathetically over at him.  “And you’ll find someone, too.  I promise.  Someone who is also in Starfleet, so—”

Pavel snorted.  “Zhat will take a very long time.”

She glanced over, confused.  “What?  Why?  I don’t—”

“Lieutenant, I am now zhe same age as most of zhese people when zhey _started_ at zhe Academy.  Younger zhan some.  I do not sink zhat any of zhem are interested in dating a boy.”  He looked almost as if he were about to start laughing, but not in a fully pleasant way.

“I—oh.”  Nyota’s smile turned wry.  “Well, I guess I can understand that.”  She tilted her head.  “Maybe.  I mean, I know I’m not the only one who forgets that you’re so much younger.”

“I am still zhe ‘kid brozher’ of zhe ship, to anyone who knows me.  Zhe Keptin, especially.”

Nyota eyed him for a moment, considering, but she smiled faintly after a moment.

“Hey, look on the bright side.  When we get some new ensigns, closer to your age, you’ll be able to woo them with all the experience you already have, right?”

Pavel laughed, smile finally easing of its tension.  “Well, I ken’t say I am not looking forward to it.”

She reached out to ruffle his hair.  “It’ll come.  Besides, high school relationships suck anyway.”

“But I heff already completed—”

“Yes, yes, I know.  Just give the people who are your age… time.  To grow up.”

Pavel just sighed.  “Ё моё!” he muttered.  “Zhat will take forever.”

—

**5.**

“No, no, no no no no no—”

“Chekov?”

Pavel startled so badly that he nearly fell over, grabbing the wall tightly.  His eyes were wide, almost panicked, as he turned to see who was there.

“Are you all right?”  Hikaru’s tone was concerned, anxious, as he took a step forward.

“I—yis—zhat—”  Pavel glanced around, almost jumping back from the console.  “What are you doing here?”

Hikaru pulled back slightly, bewildered at the near-hostility in Pavel’s voice.  “Looking for you.  You weren’t on the bridge and I was wondering—  Is it supposed to be doing that?”

Hikaru’s attention shifted to the console, which was now noisily blaring angry red warnings.  Pavel whipped back around, panicked expression returning.

“No—shit shit shit.”  He hesitated, then tapped on a few buttons, but the angry warnings continued—up until the screen flickered and went dark.”

“ _Shit_.”  He clutched his head in his hands, expression horrified.

“Hey, hey.  Calm down.  What happened?”

Pavel turned slowly to face Hikaru, looking for all the world like he wanted to melt into the Enterprise’s deck.

“I—I made a mistake, I heff—”

Hikaru reached out, taking Pavel’s shoulders.  “Take a deep breath before you try to talk.  Come on.  Breathe with me.”

Hikaru started taking slow, deep breaths, and to his immense relief, Pavel followed suit.  He could feel the slight shaking under his hands, and he couldn’t help the flash of alarm.  Still, he continued his breathing, providing a guide for Pavel until the kid no longer looked like he wanted to burst into tears.

“Okay.  You feeling better now?”

Pavel nodded.

“Good.”  He smiled at him, concealing his worry.  “You can talk to me, if you need.  Wanna tell me what happened?  I’ll do my best to help.”

Pavel took another deep breath, anxiety returning to his face, but not nearly as bad as it had previously been.  “I…”  He swallowed.  “I believe I heff made a mistake and… caused some problems wiss zhe srusters.”

It took Hikaru a moment to process what Pavel had said.  “Thrusters.  Okay.”  His own worry eased some.  “That doesn’t sound too bad.  It won’t cause any immediate problems, right?”  Pavel nodded, eyes wide.  “Exactly.  And nothing’s blown up, so I’d say it’s fine for now.”  Hikaru breathed easier when Pavel cracked a wobbly smile.  “And besides, Scotty knows this ship like nothing else.  He’ll be able to fix it.”

“You don’t sink he is going to be angry at me?”  The smile fell from Pavel’s face, eyes helpless again, and Hikaru was struck by how young he looked.

“I think he’s definitely seen worse.  He won’t be angry.  You just need to talk to him, right?  And not only will he get them working again, but you’ll learn something in the process.”

Hikaru could see the tension ebbing from Pavel’s shoulders, this time looking like it was on a more permanent basis.  The trust in his expression left Hikaru with a small ball of happiness in his chest.  “Okay.  I… I will do zhis.”

Hikaru just squeezed his shoulders for a moment before letting go.  “It’ll be okay.”

—

**+1.**

The crew of the Enterprise had endured near-death situations, hostile aliens, terrifying technical failure, and more, but none of that, none of it at all, compared to the situation going on currently.

Jim and Leonard had stopped speaking to each other.

Not completely stopped—they weren’t completely ignoring each others’ existences—but it was a near thing.  The problems were never spoken aloud, never addressed, but somehow everyone seemed to know.  And it didn’t help that nearly everyone _was_ a victim in one way or another.

There were only so many times a crewmember could minding their own business, and suddenly, to their side—

Leonard and Jim had accidentally crossed paths, not realizing how close they had gravitated to each other.  Tension in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife, and they would glare at each other before turning around and stalking off to opposite ends of the room.

It was something that had nearly everyone on edge; their friendship was a universal constant, a continuous presence that colored their interactions with anyone else as well.  Though full of antagonization and grumbling, there was always a note of playfulness, of understanding, behind it.

Until now.  Jim was unnaturally silent unless he absolutely needed to speak, and with a few more weeks of this, he would likely devolve into full-on brooding.  The Medbay had become somewhere best avoided unless absolutely necessary, or if Geoffrey or Christine were available.

And it showed no signs of improving, settling on everyone’s shoulders and weighing down far more than it should have.

It wasn’t going to stay like that forever, of course.  Everyone knew that there would be some sort of snapping, sooner or later.

Pavel was right in the middle of it, sitting at the edge of a table in the mess when he heard the voice.

"Please watch where you are going, Doctor McCoy."

"I’ll watch where I’m goin’ when you learn t’stop bumpin’ into people, _Captain Kirk._ ”

"I don’t know why you would seem to think that I would go around intentionally _bumping in_ to people, but—”

"Well, you seem t’go around doin’ a hell of a lot stupider things!"

The voice rang out in the suddenly silent room, and Pavel looked for all the world like he wanted to bolt, shoulders tensed, eyes focused intently on a spot on the far side.

“ _Excuse_ me?  I’m not the one who suddenly decided to be a jackass for no reason at all!”

Pavel took a deep breath, his “flight” posture slowly shifting into something different, settling firmly.

"No _reason?_  Now you listen here for just a goddamned minute—”

"Oh, I’m _listening_ all right—”

"Will zhe two of you just _stop!_ ”

The entire room, the volume of which had picked up with murmurs when the argument began, went quiet.

"Wiss all due respect, Keptin and Doctor, zhe two of you are acting like cheeldren!"

There were a couple of murmurs of assent—probably from Nyota and Scotty, but no one really paid attention.

"Now _you_ listen, kid—” Leonard began, but Pavel just snorted.

"No, it is time for you to leesten to me, since it obwiously sounds like neizher of you heff bozhered to leesten to each ozher!"  He took a deep breath.  "Your behavior has been effecting zhe _entire_ ship, and you two haff not noticed.  Everyone is on edge, wanting to stay out of zhe way, but you make it impossible.”

Leonard and Jim were staring now, completely dumbfounded.

"Since you—"  Pavel glanced over at Jim.  "—seem to be unable to take his concerns into consideration, and _you_ —”  Pavel shot a glare at Leonard.  ”are unable to actually _tell_ him what is zhe matter…”  He rolled his eyes.  ”Keptin, zhe Doctor is angry zhat you placed yourself in danger on zhat last—”

"Not that he did it just the one time, that he keeps goddamned doin’ it, and he won’t lis—" Leonard burst out.

Pavel glared again, and Leonard went quiet.  ”Wery well.  And _Doctor_ , zhe Keptin is angry zhat you did not tell him _why_ you were angry.”

"Well I wouldn’t have had to if—"

"You are grown men!"  Pavel’s voice was exasperated now.  "Now will you _please_ take your food somewhere priwate and discuss why you are angry wiss each ozher?  I am not zhe one wiss a degree in psychology.”  He leveled his gaze at Leonard.

The two of them looked a bit taken aback by being lectured by someone so much younger than himself, but Pavel couldn’t bring himself to care—if no one else was going to take care of the problem, he would have to.

They didn’t argue, however.  With a wary glance at each other, they picked up their trays and left the room.  No one could hear any yelling coming from the direction in which they had left, so it was most likely a win.

The mess slowly settled back to normal, with chit-chat starting back up and even the occasional laughter now heard.  Pavel got a few respectful nods and grateful thanks, which he returned with smiles.  More importantly, though, he was finally able to enjoy his meal in peace.

(He saved his smug demeanor for the next morning, when Jim and Leonard walked into the mess for breakfast, side by side, having returned to their amiable banter.)


End file.
